Changing path to home directory causes hang just after login.
example:
/home/user1
login and all is ok
mv the directory to /home/group1/user1
change /etc/passwd to point to the new location
login to gnome
severe delays for example "Loading Metacity Window manager" takes
about 5 mins!
This does not happen with FC2
changing the directory and /etc/passwd back the way it was and
everything works fine.
(Even if there is a workaround for this it would be helpful as i am
trying to consolidate a few machines with different /home locations)

most files created under .gnome2 have an absolute path (and probably
shouldn't?)
the error logging in was related to .gnome2/session
However this problem also occurs with the pannel and even aps like
gedit (with .gnome2/gedit-metadata.xml)